One thing that Rosie always tried to be was brave. Fraser wanted her to be brave- braver than he'd been. He wanted her to be brave, so she would survive. And now her bravery and ability to survive was being put to the test. She was running, running, running from the walkers that were filing in through the broken panel on the wall. She was running, running, running with Carl on her left and Ron on her right. Where did Eugene, Tara, and Rosita go? It didn't matter. They'd survive. They just had to run. Michonne and Gabriel appeared on their left, and Michonne took the lead. The group of five ran through the streets of Alexandria until they met up with Rick and Deanna. Deanna was hurt- bleeding from her side and her leg. Is that a bite?

Rosie pulled her gun out of its holster and flipped the safety off. She shot at two walkers, then two more, then she slammed into Rick's back. They'd all skidded to a stop. What was going on? Looking past Rick, Rosie could see more walkers coming from where they were headed. Rosie and the others were between second and third, and the walkers were throwing the ball back and forth, blocking them from going either way- they were all in a pickle. Then, there was a runner stealing home. Jessie was there, shooting at the walkers, and distracting them for just enough time for the group of seven to run towards the Andersons' house.

"Come on, I have Judith!" Jessie shouted, waving her arm towards herself. As fast as they could, they all filed in to Jessie's house, slamming the bright red door behind them. "Come on. Upstairs. First room on the left," Jessie shouted once they got inside. As quickly as possible, Rick and Jessie helped Deanna up the stairs, and by the time they reached the top, Rick was full-on carrying Deanna.

Carl and Rosie rushed towards the guest bedroom, which was where Judith was sleeping in a porta crib. Judith was crying and screaming so loud that it almost drowned out whatever annoying song Sam had blasting in his bedroom. Carl picked up Judith, holding her tight in his arms, and Rosie peaked over his shoulder, ruffling Judith's hair a bit. She always liked it when Glenn or Rick ruffled her hair, so maybe Judith would like it, too.

She was overwhelmed. So incredibly overwhelmed. The music and the screaming and the crying and the groaning- it was all adding to the feeling of a balloon filling up with air inside of Rosie's skull. She stopped in the hallway, right in front of where Sam was standing uselessly in the doorway of his bedroom. "Turn off the music!" Rosie shouted before slamming his bedroom door for him.

"Rosie, come here," Carl called down the hall, so Rosie did. She hurried down the hall and then down the stairs, into the living room. Carl was sitting on the couch with Judith on his lap while Ron was rushing around the room, shutting blinds and curtains, and turning off lights. "Can you...?" Carl trailed off, holding Judith out to Rosie. Rosie nodded and took Judith, so Carl could go help Ron. "Thanks," Carl murmured. Rosie watched as he glanced warily over at Ron before joining him in hiding all signs of life in the house.

"Hey, Judith," Rosie whispered, now putting her focus on the whining baby in her lap. She pulled her new stegosaurus toy out of her pocket and placed it in Judith's hands. "Yeah, look at that," Rosie said, smiling a little as Judith's crying began to slow to a stop. "Stegosauruses could get up to 14,000 pounds. Did ya know that, Jude?" Rosie said, even though she knew that Judith had absolutely no idea what she was saying.

Talking about dinosaurs, even if it was to a baby that didn't understand a single word of it, helped Rosie calm her racing heart beat. It was a good distraction from all of her worried thoughts. Where was Maggie? And where was Ian? Was he by himself? Would he know what to do by himself?

Stop thinking about that. Think of dinosaurs.

"The stegosaurus lived in the Jurassic period, where Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming are now," Rosie told Judith. Judith cooed and Rosie tried not to react when she put the stegosaurus' tail in her mouth. She gently pulled Judith's hand with the toy in it away from Judith's mouth. "Don't eat it. It ain't foo-" Bang. Rosie shot up to her feet, holding Judith on her hip. "Carl?" Rosie called out, her eyebrows furrowed. Where had he gone? Crash. "Carl!"

Rick came running down the stairs, Jessie right on his tail. "What's going on?!" Rick asked, his question directed towards Rosie even though his focus was on trying to get the door to the garage open.

"I don't know!" Rosie said, starting to panic again. Had the walkers gotten in? Rosie couldn't hold Judith and use her gun at the same time. She needed both arms to hold Judith. "Carl! What're you doin'?!" Rosie shouted through the door to the garage.

"Ron, open the door right now!" Jessie started screaming and slamming on the door, and Judith started crying and wailing loudly.

"Carl!" Rosie shouted again. Rick turned to her.

"Bring Judith upstairs, we'll handle it," he ordered, his voice louder than he meant for it to be. Hesitantly, Rosie backed off and did as she was told. Judith was the priority. If Carl and Ron were in danger, Rick would help them. Rosie had to keep Judith safe. So, she brought Judith up the stairs, and back towards the guest bedroom.

"Michonne! Gabriel! They need your help down there," Rosie shouted as she placed Judith down in the porta crib. Rosie couldn't exactly see what was going on down there, but from the sounds of it, walkers were getting in. As soon as Rosie placed Judith down, she started crying even louder. Rosie felt bad, but she needed to help, and she didn't know what else to do. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," Rosie kept saying as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. She hurried back downstairs and found Rick in the living room. "She won't stop cryin'!" Rosie complained, her eyebrows pinched together. The sound would only draw more walkers.

"I'll get her," Rick said before rushing up the stairs.

Rosie rushed over to the window with the others, peaking out the windows around the bright red door. The walkers were all stumbling towards the house, drawn to the sounds of Judith's crying. They started slamming up against the wood, breaking it bit by bit, and Rosie jumped back, her eyes wide.

"Rick!" Jessie shouted before slamming herself up against the door. Rosie joined in, then Gabriel, then Carl, Michonne, and Ron. They were all pressing themselves up against the door- just like that night in the barn before they met Aaron. They were all working together to try and save each other's lives. Rick came sprinting into the room to help, but just as he did, the back door broke open and walkers started flooding in through that door.

"Everybody upstairs! Now!" Michonne yelled as she unsheathed her sword. Albeit reluctantly, the group gave up on trying to hold the door shut and scrambled up the stairs. Rick and Michonne worked together to bring the couch up to block the walkers from following them, and Rosie flicked the safety off on her gun again.

"I got this one. You get the one behind it," Rick said to Michonne, raising his axe up above his head. Rosie didn't understand. Did he think they were gonna kill off all of the walkers? "We're gonna need at least two," Rick then added.

"For what?" Rosie asked, her stomach churning with anxiety.

"For us," Rick answered, and drove his axe down into one of the walkers' heads.

•

Ten minutes later, Rosie and Carl were keeping watch, making sure the walkers didn't break through the couch barrier, as Rick and Michonne gutted the two walkers they had killed. Rosie tried not to watch, but she could still hear them- their weapons penetrating the skin, then digging through the walker's insides, gathering them up, before slathering them all over the cut up bed sheets that were being used as ponchos.

"This is really gross," Rosie murmured, staring down at the growling walkers in hopes of forgetting about what Rick and Michonne were doing just a few feet away.

"At least it'll work," Carl sighed, his face all scrunched up. He turned to look into the room, then turned back to Rosie. "You're up," he said, nodding his head towards the room. With a big, long sigh, Rosie moped her way into the bedroom, her shoulders slumped. She could smell it already, and she even felt like she could taste it.

"Over here," Rick said, waving Rosie over. As slowly as she could, with zero pep in her step, Rosie dragged herself over to Rick. He threw a poncho over her head. "Ready?" Rick asked. Rosie grumbled out incoherent words in response, and Rick splattered walker guts all over her poncho. It was the worst thirty seconds of Rosie's life. But at least it was only thirty seconds.

Once she was done getting herself covered in guts, Rosie looked over to the corner. Sam was in the corner. He was wearing a poncho, too, but he was crying and staring at his mom. He was very, very scared, and Rosie could tell. She decided maybe she could help him feel better, so she went to stand by his side.

"It'll be done quick," Rosie told him, looking up at the ceiling so that she didn't have to look down at the guts all over her. The smell alone made her worry she was going to puke. "Then everythin' will fine. Rick knows what he's doin'. We just gotta be brave," Rosie said, trying hard to be extra nice.

"Leave me alone," Sam mumbled, still staring at his mom with wide, scared eyes. Rosie wanted to scoff and roll her eyes, because she was only trying to be nice, but she didn't. She didn't want to make him mad and make everything ten times more stressful.

A few minutes later, they were all ready. Judith was hidden beneath Carl's walker poncho, and the rest of them were holding onto guns, machetes, or knives. Slowly and carefully, Rick made his way down the stairs and started to slid the couch out of the way. Rosie's heart was slamming against her chest as she watched a walker go right up to Rick. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion as the walker sniffed, looked around, then continued on stumbling around with no destination in mind. They were in the clear. They shoved through the crowd of the walkers, keeping their heads down and trying to remain calm.

When they finally got to the porch, they all stopped for a moment. Out in the street, walkers were stumbling around, their heads all drooping and their clothes all tattered. They were walking in the yards and in the road, bumping into each other and tripping over their own feet. Rosie stared out at the sea of walkers. One wrong move out there, and they'd all be dead. Rosie felt someone bump their hand against hers, and for a moment, she thought it was a walker, but then they grabbed onto her hand. Rosie looked at Carl, and he nodded. It'll be ok, his eyes said. So Rosie squeezed onto his hand, and used her other hand to hold onto Jessie's.

Together, holding hands like a class preschoolers on a field trip, the group walked through the crowd. They were a chain, holding each other together in the sea of death, because their lives depended on it. Rosie squeezed onto Carl's hand like it was her only lifeline, because it was. Silently, Rick led them all on a march with the dead. Every second felt like an hour, and every minute felt like a hundred years. Rosie could hear her heartbeat.

Rick led them to a small gap in the crowd, and he leaned in close. "Alright, new plan. Flares from a few guns aren't enough. Too many walkers, too spread out. We're not going to the armory. We need our vehicles back at the quarry. All of us drive. We'll need to round 'em up. We leave, we come back," Rick explained, his voice as quiet as he could make it without being totally silent. Rosie didn't care what his plan was. He'd saved her life time and time again, so she trusted him with whatever he thought was best. She'd follow his lead, no matter where he took her.

"Ok. But Judith... to the quarry and back, I..." Jessie trailed off, her eyebrows pinched together. Rick looked defeated, looking around as if one of the walkers would give him some idea of what to do.

"I'll take her," Gabriel suddenly spoke up. Rosie stared at him for a moment, and then at Rick. She wasn't sure how much they could trust Gabriel to keep Judith alive, but, again, she trusted Rick. He'd make the right decision. "I'll keep her safe in my church until you all lead the walkers away," Gabriel elaborated. Rick didn't say anything, thinking.

"Can you do this?" Michonne asked Gabriel, her voice low and serious.

"I'm supposed to. I have to. I will," Gabriel promised, his words sincere and honest. Rosie watched Rick, and he nodded. He turned to Carl, and they carefully passed Judith between the two of them. Judith had walker blood on her face, and Rosie really wanted to wipe it off for her, but she couldn't, because there was walker blood all over her, too.

"Take Sam," Jessie spoke, her voice tense.

"No," Sam quickly refused. Rosie wasn't sure if Sam staying was the best idea, if she was being totally honest. And it wasn't just because she didn't like him. It was because he was scared, and he was weak, even if no one wanted to admit it.

"Yes, Sam, it'll be safer."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Sam-"

"Mom, I'm not," Sam said, his voice more low and serious than Rosie had ever heard it before. Jessie stared at him for a moment. "I can keep going. I can keep going. Please," Sam assured her.

Rosie looked at Rick to see what he'd say, but Rick was already looking at her. He nodded his head towards Gabriel, and he had a questioning look on his face. Rosie still wasn't completely fluent in eye language, but she was pretty sure that he was asking if she wanted to go with Gabriel. Rosie wanted to help, because she was brave and she was tough, and she could do it. So, she shook her head. I can help. And that was all it took. Rick nodded firmly, and Rosie nodded back.

"Let's just go," Sam said.

And after a few moments, Jessie gave in. "Ok," she said, nodding her head.

"I'm going to keep her safe," Gabriel promised, looking Rick in the eyes.

"Thank you," Rick said, his face full of so many emotions that Rosie couldn't put a pin on a single one. With that, Gabriel held Judith close to his chest and quietly shushed her as he walked away in the crowd. Rosie watched until she couldn't see him anymore, and then Carl grabbed onto her hand again, and they were off. To the quarry and back. To the quarry and back.

They were the chain again, keeping each other together. And they stayed a chain, marching on to the quarry as the sun set behind them. By the time the sun went down and the streets were dark, Rosie felt confident. They were really going to make it. They were going to save Alexandria, and Rosie would see Daryl, Glenn, Abraham, and Sasha again, and she'd find Ian and he'd be just fine. They just had to keep going. It was routine.

Step, step, step. Don't look at the walkers. Don't let go of Carl's hand. Step, step, step. Bump into Carl's back- bump into Carl's back?

Rosie looked up from her shoes to see what the hold up was. Sam was standing still, his face all scrunched up as he began to cry. Jessie was standing in front of him, her eyes wide and terrified. "Sweetheart? Sam?" Jessie was saying, trying to get Sam's attention. He was just staring off into the crowd of walkers, tears streaming down his face. What had changed? Why was he crying now, but he wasn't before? What was wrong? "Sam. Sam, come on. You can do it," Jessie kept saying, pulling on Sam's arm. He wouldn't budge. Rick joined in, trying to get Sam to move, then Ron. "Sam, I need you to come with me. I need you to be strong."

Sam was crying, whimpering. He was so terrified all of the sudden that he was frozen in his spot. Rosie didn't understand what had gone wrong. He was crying, and whimpering, and then he was screaming, because two walkers came up behind him and grabbed onto his head. His crying gave him up. The walkers sunk their teeth into his flesh, and began tearing him apart. Rosie's eyes were wide in shock as she stared at Sam and the walkers. Jessie was crying now, too. She was screaming, and she wouldn't let go of Sam's hand. She wouldn't let him go.

"Jessie! Come on," Rosie hissed, pulling on Jessie's hand. They had to go. The walkers knew. They had to go. "Jessie, we gotta go!" Rosie kept whispering, pulling on Jessie's hand. But Jessie just kept screaming and crying until the walkers got her, too. Rosie's hand was still in Jessie's, and she watched as Jessie was torn apart to join her son in death. Carl pulled on Rosie, so she tried to pull away from Jessie, but Jessie's hand was wrapped around her wrist. "Carl," Rosie said, her voice panicky as she pulled as hard as she could. "She won't let go."                     

"Dad," Carl said, grabbing Rick's attention. "Dad!" Carl said again, trying to pull Rosie away from Jessie. A second later, Rick's axe was slamming down into Jessie's arm, and her grip finally slacked. Rosie stumbled backwards into Carl, and the two of them fell down, into the grass. Rosie scrambled back up to her feet, gravitating closer to Rick, and Carl stood back up, turning to Michonne and Ron. When Rosie looked up, past Carl, she saw Ron. He was standing up tall, his eyes wide and full of tears. He had a gun in his hands, and he was pointing it right at Rick.

"You," Ron mumbled out, his voice low and quiet. "You."

Bang. The gun went off just as Michonne stuck her sword into Ron's back. Rosie flinched, her eyes squeezed shut. When she opened them again, she looked up at Rick. He was still alive. He was still there. Ron didn't shoot him. Walkers instantly dropped down onto Ron's body, tearing him apart.

"Dad," Carl's quiet voice spoke. Rosie looked to her left, and there Carl was. His sheriff's hat casted a shadow across his eyes, but it didn't hide the stream of blood that was pouring down his face and neck. He lifted his head, revealing the rest of his face. Carl's eye was gone. As soon as he lifted his head, Carl dropped down to the pavement, unconscious.

No, no, no, no, no, no, was all Rosie could think as Rick broke out into sobs and ran forwards to pick up Carl bridal style. Adrenalin coursing through their veins and tears streaming down their faces, Rosie and Michonne fought their way through the sea of walkers, clearing a path for Rick to get Carl to the infirmary before his heart could stop beating. Walker after walker, with a gun and a sword. Their chain was broken, and everything had fallen apart.

The door to the infirmary swung open and Denise was ready on the other side. She directed Rick to a gurney across the room, and Rosie pressed herself up against the wall, out of the way. Her hands went to her hair, pulling, pulling, pulling, as she stared at Carl's bloody face. People were talking, but she couldn't hear a thing. Everything was quiet, aside from the ringing in Rosie's ears, until she heard the front door slam shut. Finally snapped out of her daze, Rosie looked out the window to see who had gone outside. Rick was out there with nothing but his axe.

He was making a stand.

Rosie threw the walker poncho off of herself, and tossed it on the ground. She looked to Michonne, then to Aaron, then to a few other Alexandrians who were in the room. A second later, they were all out the door, too. Rosie looked to the gun in her hands. She needed a close combat weapon. She didn't have one. She couldn't use the gun- it'd just run out of bullets. Frustrated, Rosie stared down at her hands, until her eyes drifted to the bracelet on her wrist. Carl had given it to her. Carl had a knife. Rosie went to the gurney and pulled Carl's knife out of its sheath, and then she was out the door, too.

It was routine again. Kick the knees, stab the head, kick the knees, stab the head, kick the knees, stab the head. She joined the others, and even more came to help. They weren't a chain, but they were a team. They weren't held together by their hands, squeezing onto each other for dear life, but they were held together by their courage.

Kick the knees, stab the head, kick the knees, stab the head, kick the knees, stab the head, kick the knees, stab the head, kick the knees, stab the head.

A bright light flashed in the plain, black sky, and suddenly, the lake was on fire. "Holy shit," Rosie breathed out, staring into the flames. The walkers stopped coming, and they all turned towards the lake of fire. Like moths drawn to a streetlamp at night, the walkers mindlessly marched to their demise.

As soon as the streets were clear enough, Rosie abandoned the rest of the group and used all that was left of her energy to run back to the house. Ian was still nowhere to be seen, and the last time Rosie saw him was inside that house. He was there, or he was dead. Carl was alive, but unconscious, and there was no telling if he'd wake up. Rosie didn't know what she would do if both of her friends were dead. They just couldn't be. They couldn't.

When she reached the house, she swung open the front door. The lights were off, and the living room was empty, so she checked the kitchen. Nothing. "Ian!" Rosie shouted, her voice travelling through the entire house. There was no response. Everything was silent. Until there were loud thuds coming from upstairs, getting louder with each step.

"Rosie!" Ian shouted back, running down the staircase.

As soon as Rosie caught sight of Ian, she came running towards him. She slammed into him, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders. "You're alive!" Rosie said, smiling wide.

"I am!" Ian exclaimed. "You are, too!" Rosie pulled away from him, and then punched him on the shoulder. "Hey!" Ian said, his hand going up to rub his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"I thought ya got eaten!" Rosie complained, furrowing here eyebrows at him.

"I didn't. I hid," Ian said, using his thumb to point back up the stairs. He looked over her for a moment, taking in her completely bloodstained face and clothes. "You obviously didn't," he said.

"Ian. The lake set on fire."

"What?" Ian asked, completely confused.

Both of the kids jumped when the front door swung open again, but it was only Tara standing on the other side. "Hey," Tara said, taking a moment to catch her breath. "You can't just run away," she said. Rosie looked down at her shoes and mumbled out a sorry. "Come with me. Daryl's back."

Five minutes later, the door to the infirmary swung open and Rosie hurried inside. Daryl was sitting on one of the beds, and Denise was behind him, cleaning a bunch of wounds on his back. "Daryl, the lake set on fire," was the first thing she said when she got to him, bouncing up and down on her toes. She wanted to hug him, but he was obviously getting his wounds patched up, and Rosie didn't want to get in the way or accidentally hurt him.

"I know," Daryl responded, having been the one who set the lake on fire in the first place. He was about to tell her that, but then he stopped, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment. "The hell happened to your face?" he asked, reaching out and moving her bloodstained hair out of the way so that he could see the stitches that were still just above Rosie's eyebrow.

"I didn't fight Liam. I swear. I just fell. When I was savin' him, actually," Rosie told him, crossing her arms as she tried to hide her proud smile. She lifted herself up onto the cot to sit beside him. "What took ya so long?" Rosie asked. She twisted herself to be able to see what Denise was doing. His back and shoulder had lots of blood and gashes on it, and what looked to be road rash. "What happened?" she asked.

"Bunch a' bullshit that wasn't s'posed ta happen, happened," Daryl grumbled. His face scrunched up for a moment, and Denise mumbled a sorry, which Rosie knew meant that she was probably cleaning the wounds. Cleaning wounds always hurts- she knew from experience. Rosie was about to mention that, but then she snapped her mouth shut when Maggie appeared in front of her and gently held her face with one hand. Rosie was very confused at first, but then Maggie's other hand lifted with a wet cloth in it, and Maggie began wiping the walker blood off of Rosie's face.

"You're ok?" Maggie asked Rosie, once she was done wiping her face off.

"I'm ok," Rosie said, nodding her head a little. She was ok. Daryl was back, and Glenn was back, and Sasha and Abraham were back, and Ian was alive, and Carl was still alive, even if he was unconscious, and Alexandria was still standing. So she was ok. Not particularly good, but not extremely bad, either. Ok.